Numerical analysis of readout-signal cross talk in magneto-optical land and groove recording

The effects of recorded marks, groove geometry, and aberrations on readout-signal cross talk are numerically analyzed in magneto-optical land and groove recording, with an application of scalar diffraction theory. Three simple patterns of recorded marks are considered, and each of them consists of three tracks that respectively have three marks of a single frequency. Cross talk as a function of groove depth is calculated at the edges, as well as at the center, of a mark in the center track for each frequency. The groove-depth ranges over which cross talk is less than -30 dB are obtained for each pattern.     

Analysis and Reduction of Ultrasonic Pitting Defects on Hard Disk Surfaces

It has become of paramount importance to be able to perform failure analysis of defects on hard disk surfaces quickly and accurately. In this study, ultrasonic pitting defects on hard disk surfaces were investigated. A new electrical tagging pattern system, which directly translated the channel bits to magnetic transitions during writing of the magnetic pattern around a defect, was used in the failure analysis of magnetic recording disks to mark defective sectors. With the help of the Kerr magneto-effect, the defective sectors were effectively located for further failure analysis. Results of the failure analysis revealed that there was 30% to 40% loss of the recorded magnetic bit signal due to an increase in the gap between a recording head and a hard disk surface with ultrasonic pitting defects. The experiments performed indicated that low ultrasonic power for disk cleaning could reduce the ultrasonic pitting defects significantly. The maximum failure rate due to single-type ultrasonic pitting defects was reduced from 33.4% to 16.7%, while the maximum failure rate due to cluster-type ultrasonic pitting defects was reduced from 11.1% to 5%.     

A model for overwrite modulation in longitudinal recording

An inherent contribution to overwrite modulation, a pattern of position shifts of the newly recorded flux transitions, is shown to result from magnetic fields from initial signal flux transitions superimposed on the head field during the overwrite process. A mathematical model was developed for this overwrite modulation mechanism for the case where a double frequency (2F) square wave signal is overwritten on a track initially recorded with a square wave signal of frequency F. The model predicted the qualitative form of the experimentally observed flux transition shift pattern, and was in quantitative agreement with measured overwrite modulation values for seven different magnetic recording tapes at two different recording densities.     

The vibrating head magnetometer--Instrument for the measurement of magnetic transitions in high coercive force films

The magnetization pattern recorded in high coercive force media, such as magnetic tapes or discs, is measured with the vibrating head magnetometer (VHM) by vibrating a recording head parallel to the surface of the medium and along the track length. The VHM can be used with small, irregular-shaped samples. It can be used to measure precisely the shape of recorded magnetic transitions. Application of the VHM to the precise location of dropouts on prerecorded samples and to the alignment of a recording head with respect to a prerecorded track is described. Measurements have been made with the VHM of the half peak width and relative peak signal of isolated transitions in Co alloy films. The half peak width was found to be proportional to(t/H_{c})^{0.5}.     

Three-dimensional remote sensing by optical scanning holography

A technique is presented by which holograms can be recorded when an object or scene is scanned with an optically heterodyned Fresnel zone pattern. The experimental setup, based on optical scanning holography, is described and experimental results are presented. We apply the scanning holography technique to three-dimensional reflective objects for the first time to our knowledge and address the unique requirements for such a system. We discuss holographic recording and numerical image reconstruction using a system point-spread function (PSF) approach. We demonstrate numerical image reconstruction of experimentally recorded holograms by two techniques: deconvolution with a simulated PSF and an experimentally acquired PSF.     

Signal processing and a groove baseband recording method to achieve a high-density optical disc

We propose a method for recording a multilevel signal onto optical read-only-memory discs. In this method we use signal processing to generate a multilevel recording signal that satisfies the zero-intersymbol interference condition and the zero-dc condition. The resultant multilevel signal is emboss recorded as the position displacement of groove walls. To play back a disc, push-pull detection and an adaptive equalizer are used. We also introduce feedback to reduce the nonlinear characteristics existing in the recording and playback systems. An experimental disc with 0.6-mum track pitch and 0.28-mum/bit density is made. When a digital versatile disc equivalent optical pickup is used to play back this disc, we confirm that a two-dimensional eye pattern of 16 levels is clearly observed.     

Fabrication and MFM study of 60 nm track-pitch discrete track media

Discrete track magnetic recording media with a 60 nm track pitch and prewritten servo patterns were fabricated and tested for read/write performance, and a feasibility analysis of the embedded servo was performed. The fabrication process consisted of ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) and sequential ion beam etching on a conventional perpendicular magnetic recording medium. Magnetic patterns were written to the fabricated tracks at 700 kilo flux changes per inch (kFCI) using a spin stand and were read using magnetic force microscopy (MFM), with a resulting signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 12.15 dB. The servo pattern was also visualized with MFM. These results demonstrated the feasibility of writing to a 30 nm wide discrete data track and the workability of the embedded servo pattern.     

A Novel System for Recognizing Recording Devices from Recorded Speech Signals

The field of digital audio forensics aims to detect threats and fraud in audio signals. Contemporary audio forensic techniques use digital signal processing to detect the authenticity of recorded speech, recognize speakers, and recognize recording devices. User-generated audio recordings from mobile phones are very helpful in a number of forensic applications. This article proposed a novel method for recognizing recording devices based on recorded audio signals. First, a database of the features of various recording devices was constructed using 32 recording devices (20 mobile phones of different brands and 12 kinds of recording pens) in various environments. Second, the audio features of each recording device, such as the Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC), were extracted from the audio signals and used as model inputs. Finally, support vector machines (SVM) with fractional Gaussian kernel were used to recognize the recording devices from their audio features. Experiments demonstrated that the proposed method had a 93.4% accuracy in recognizing recording devices.     

Readout signals calculated for near-field optical pickups with land and groove recording

Optical disk readout signals with a solid immersion lens (SIL) and the land-groove recording technique are calculated by use of a simplified vector-diffraction theory. In this method the full vector-diffraction theory is applied to calculate the diffracted light from the initial state of the disk, and the light scattered from the recorded marks is regarded as a perturbation. Using this method, we confirmed that the land-groove recording technique is effective as a means of cross-talk reduction even when the numerical aperture is more than 1. However, the top surface of the disk under the SIL must be flat, or the readout signal from marks recorded on a groove decays when the optical depth of the groove is greater than lambda/8.     

A system for capturing and presenting short duration voltage surgeson AC power lines

A system for capturing short-duration voltage surges on AC power lines and presenting them for analysis is described. This system records both the surge wave shape and the fundamental wave shape in digital first in, first out (FIFO) buffers. Both signals are continually recorded; recording continues for an interval of time after triggering that is shorter than the depth of the FIFO buffers, yielding detailed pretrigger and posttrigger information. Preliminary field work indicates that some terminology that has previously been used to describe surge parameters, such as duration, may no longer be useful. Initial analysis of the surge waveforms indicates that some surge sources can be identified by their waveforms     

3 Gb/in2 recording demonstration with dual element headsand thin film disks

We have successfully demonstrated magnetic recording at an areal density of 3 Gb/in² with narrow track inductive-write MR-read dual element heads on low noise Co alloy thin film disks. In this demonstration, the write head is a ten turn thin film inductive head with thick and narrow P2 pole-tips. The read head is a shielded ~1 μm trackwidth MR sensor soft-film biased in the read region for linearization and exchange-biased at the tail regions for magnetic stabilization. During recording tests, the heads were flown over low noise Co-alloy media at a clearance similar to that in the previous 1 Gb/in² recording experiment. Results showed good writability from the narrow track write head in terms of overwrite and hard transition shift. Readback yields symmetrical signals as large as 600 μV (p-p) and rolloff measurements showed 50% densities as high as 5000 fc/mm. Track profile and microtrack profile measurements showed the write and read trackwidths to be ~1.4 μm and ~1.1 μm respectively, with tight side-writing and side-reading characteristics. An overall assessment of the parametric recording results suggested areal density feasibility up to as high as 3 Gb/in². This projection was confirmed by error rate performance testing using a PRML channel with a digital filter and write precompensation. At a data rate of 4-5 Mb/s and at very low ontrack error, a linear density as high as 185 Kbpi and an optimized track pitch as narrow as 1.5 μm were achieved, corresponding to an areal recording density of ~3.1 Gb/in²     

Decision feedback equalization of the dc null in high-density digital magnetic recording

The dc null in a digital magnetic recording channel is equalized in a novel way which allows recovery of direct recorded NRZ waveforms with no coding constraints. The technique involves decision feedback equalization which can be implemented with simpleRCfilters. Feedback power is determined by the choice ofRCand can be optimized independently of the fact of equalization. Measurements on a commercial helical-scan video transport indicate that the harmful effects of a dc null can be greatly reduced; specifically the error rate (excluding dropouts) on a 1023-bit 20-Mbit/sec pseudorandom pattern was reduced from 3 × 10^-5to below 10^-8.     

Recording with magnetic bubbles

We propose to use the stray field of a magnetic domain (e.g, a bubble) for magnetic recording. It is shown that these stray fields are large enough to write information into a conventional disc or tape. An experiment in which an audio signal is recorded on a conventional tape with the aid of a stripe domain is described. We consider the feasibility of an integrated recording head for "one head per track recording" by using a multitude of bubbles in one crystal plate as well as the possibility of realizing a scanning head for video recording. Our preliminary experiments demonstrate the feasibility of recording based on this new principle.     

Study of Lithographically Defined Data Track and Servo Patterns

We report on fabrication of discrete tracks on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) media with an e-beam lithographical process. We studied the recording performance of the e-beam media on a spinstand in parallel with conventional PMR media. Discrete track media show significant reduction in adjacent track erasure (ATE). We studied and quantitatively measured the source of the ATE improvement, and developed a triple track geometrical model to calculate achievable track density for both discrete track recording (DTR) and continuous media. From the model, we identify two factors of DTR that contribute to reaching a higher TPI. Using the same fabrication technique, we also studied servo burst design and its playback waveform quality. At 250 ktpi, we compare DTR servo bursts with servo bursts written with a conventional method. DTR servo bursts show better edge definition, which can translate to better position error signal sensitivity and support higher TPI in the future.Discrete tracks are fabricated on conventional PMR media with an e-beam litho graphical process. The recording performance is studied on a spinstand in parallel with conventional PMR media. Discrete track media shows significant reduction in adjacent track erasure (ATE). The source of the ATE improvement is studied and quantitatively measured. A triple track geometrical model is developed to calculate achievable track density for both DTR and continuous media. From the model, we identify two factors of DTR, which contribute to reaching a higher TPI. Using the same fabrication technique, we also study servo burst design and its playback waveform quality. At 250 ktpi, we compare DTR servo bursts and servo bursts written with a conventional method. DTR servo bursts show better edge definition, which can translate to better PES signal sensitivity and support higher TPI in the future.     

Side-Track Erasure Processes in Perpendicular Recording

In perpendicular recording, substantial erasure of the stored data patterns can occur during the writing process. Among all those erasure processes, side-track erasure (STE) is one of the critical issues in drive head/media integration. Unlike the adjacent track erasure (ATE) process, the locations of the STE affected areas are often many tens of tracks away from the central writing track location. In this work, we report on an experimental investigation and quantification of the general attributes and the origins of the STE processes in various situations. Particularly, we thoroughly characterize some distinctive signatures and behaviors of STE processes by employing both the amplitude- and bit-error-rate-based STE measurement methods in combination with a novel magnetic force microscope characterization technique     

Effects of the writing process and crosstalk on the timing accuracy of pulses in NRZ digital recording

The position at which a NRZ transition is recorded is dependent on the write current, the effect of increasing the current being to shift the recorded position beyond the trailing gap edge. The shift is more marked with a thick medium than a thin coating, and is worsened if the write head pole tips are approaching saturation. If the recording field changes magnitude when reversed, positive pulses become displaced relative to negative, and pulse pairing occurs. When recording different patterns on adjacent tracks, peak shifts can occur due to writing crosstalk aiding or opposing the head field and the shifts may well impose an upper limit to track density.     

Micromagnetic recording model of pole-tip saturation effects

Auxiliary write-head fields, either from simple analytic approximations or from finite-element computations, are used to record transitions on a Landau-Lifschitz-Gilbert model of thin-film recording media. A micromagnetic model of a magnetoresistive element is used to read back the transitions. Focus is on the impact of pole-tip saturation on the quality of the recorded track and subsequent playback. It is shown that with increasing write current, the quality of the recorded transitions degrades much more rapidly than would be expected from the analytical expressions for the write-head field. Specifically, head saturation causes the transition parameter to increase. At high write currents, poor write field gradients at the track edges result in a strong increase in transition parameter with read width percentage of the recorded track     

An Overlay Network for Monitoring Activities of Computer Viruses

To accurately track computer viruses, an overlay network that monitors the activities of viruses is constructed. Identifying and locating nodes infected by virus on network is achieved by a naming system in which a node in the network is mapped to a unique serial number of the hard drive. By carefully monitoring and recording sensitive communication between local system and remote nodes on the network, and suspicious operations on files that originate from remote nodes and entered via some form of file transfer, activities of viruses in both local and network level are recorded and ready for future analysis. These data can also be used in analysis of the mechanism of a computer virus as well as its spreading mode and pattern.     

Polarization dependence of thermal behavior in rewritable phase-change optical recording media

Thermal behavior in land-groove phase-change optical recording has been examined for different polarizations of the incident beam. Three-dimensional temperature distribution in the grooved medium is evaluated by the numerical solution of Maxwell's equations and the heat transfer equation with the finite-difference method. Both experiments and calculations have shown that the thermal behavior in the medium is dependent on the state of polarization and the nature of the track. The calculated mark shapes in a quadrilayer stack are in good agreement with experimental observations.     

Reconstruction dynamics of recorded holograms in photochromic glass

We have investigated the dynamics of the record-erase process of holograms in photochromic glass using continuum Nd:YVO? laser radiation (λ=532 nm). A bidimensional microgrid pattern was formed and visualized in photochromic glass, and its diffraction efficiency decay versus time (during reconstruction step) gave us information (D, Δn) about the diffusion process inside the material. The recording and reconstruction processes were carried out in an off-axis setup, and the images of the reconstructed object were recorded by a CCD camera. Measurements realized on reconstructed object images using holograms recorded at a different incident power laser have shown a two-stage process involved in silver atom kinetics.